Devon heraldry


The landed gentry and nobility of Devonshire, like the rest of the English and European gentry, bore heraldic arms from the start of the age of heraldry circa 1200-1215. The fashion for the display of heraldry ceased about the end of the Victorian era by which time most of the ancient armigerous families of Devonshire had died out, moved away or parted with their landed estates.
Today a very few ancient families remain in the county represented by direct male descendants, most notably Courtenay of Powderham, Fulford of Fulford, Kelly of Kelly, Cruwys of Cruwys Morchard, Clifford of Chudleigh, Acland of Killerton and Broadclyst, Wrey of Tawstock, etc. A few ancient Devon estates are still owned by descendants via female lines, for example Castle Hill, Filleigh, Molland, Incledon, Braunton, Hall, Bishop's Tawton, Newnham Park, etc. In most cases the laws of English heraldry preclude the transmission of paternal armorials via a female heiress, thus most of these inheritors via female lines, generally deriving from the same pool of high-status English armigerous families, bring their own paternal heraldry, possibly previously foreign to Devon, to the estates inherited.
For example, the Irish arms of Gore are now associated with Castle Hill, Filleigh, until 1958 the seat of the last male representative of the Fortescue family which originated in Devon in the 12th century. In a few cases however, male heirs via female lines have been required by the legator to seek royal licence to adopt his own arms and surname, otherwise destined to disappearance, in lieu of the legatees own. This was the case with the families most notably of Rolle, Basset, Stucley, Walrond, etc.

Standard sources

The standard sources for students of the heraldry of Devon are as follows:

Documents

Observation of surviving monuments in parish churches and mansion houses. As for the arms of Courtenay: "the stamp of whose almost princely authority may be extensively recognised throughout the county". Frequently discrepancies between these sources exist. Painted monuments in parish churches often have been restored, in some cases several times over the centuries, and the arms depicted may not be as originally painted. Heraldry sculpted in relief on stone is liable to wear and crumbling, especially when placed in the favourite location, exposed to the elements for centuries, on the porch or gatehouse of the family mansion. Ancient monumental brasses do not show tinctures but otherwise provide lasting records of heraldry. Stained glass depictions are optimal sources as they include tinctures, but ancient survivals are rare. Mural monuments placed high up on walls generally survive vandalism of past ages whilst paintings of arms on escutcheons sculpted in stone on mediaeval chest tombs have rarely survived and often were "scraped" clean of all decoration in the 17th century. Heraldic monuments displaying a family's arms are generally found in the church of the parish in which is situated their seat, but the paternal arms may also be found in remoter parish churches where a daughter of the family has married into a family resident there. In such a case the arms are shown impaled by the arms of her husband. Clearly the greatest problems in tracing heraldry relate to long extinct families. A few ancient Devon families survive, such as the Fortescues, and a flag showing the Fortescue arms still flies above Castle Hill in 2013. There is no shortage of surviving examples of the arms of the Chichesters and Rolles, but surviving heraldry of the ancient Courtenay Earls of Devon seated at Tiverton Castle is rare, although frequently shown as quarterings in the arms of related families.

List of Devon arms

The following armorials are listed in the Heraldic Visitations of Devon, 1531, 1564 & 1620:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Blazons by Sir William Pole

The following blazons, with spellings corrected and modernised, but listed in original semi-alphabetical order, were recorded by Sir William Pole:

A